A motor vehicle internal combustion engine comprises a plurality of combustion chambers each delimited by a piston, a cylinder and a portion of a cylinder head. These combustion chambers receive a mixture of oxidant and fuel destined to be burnt to generate the work of the engine. The oxidant comprises air, which may or may not be compressed, depending on whether the engine includes a turbocharger. The air may also be mixed with exhaust gases, called recirculated exhaust gases. The gases taken into the combustion chamber will hereinafter be referred to as feed gas.
It is known practice to increase the density of these feed gases by cooling them, for example by promoting a heat exchange between the feed gases and a flow of air outside the vehicle via an air/air heat exchanger.
It is also known practice to produce this cooling by exchange between the feed gases and a liquid fluid, for example the coolant of the engine, which circulates in a heat exchanger which is passed through by the feed gases. The heat exchanger used in the latter device comprises a bundle, but it also includes a coolant distribution area whose function is to direct the fluid from ducts, external to the exchanger, to tubes that make up the bundle.